Talk to any Doctor Who fan for long enough and sooner or later you’ll get around to the topic of which actors would do a good job in its titular role. An increasingly popular choice is Lucifer‘s Tom Ellis, who has now responded to fans calls for him to play the iconic character.
With Lucifer returning to Netflix last month for the first half of its fifth season, Ellis’ looks and charisma have been firmly planted back in the forefront of viewers’ minds and reignited interest in seeing him take up the key to the TARDIS, a periodic consideration stemming back to his days in BBC sitcom Miranda. Of the possibility of him joining the sci-fi institution, he had this to say:
“Back in the day, I would have loved to have had an opportunity to play Doctor Who. I just never think that ever would have happened. Partly because I’d have done this show, and I just don’t think people thought of me like that. Weirdly, the part of Lucifer, in my own head I’m like, ‘This is my Doctor Who’.”
Although you wouldn’t consider the King of Hell and the renegade Time Lord to have much in common, they possess a fundamental similarity in both characters being generally easy-going regardless of the situation, often remaining so when those around them are about to lose it, but should someone do or say something that offends their personal sense of morality, the darkness concealed behind their affability is quickly revealed.
As for Ellis now being too closely associated with the character of Lucifer, such issues haven’t hindered other Doctors. Prior to Doctor Who, Peter Capaldi was best known as eloquently profane spin doctor Malcolm Tucker from political comedy series The Thick of It, while David Tennant had just come off roles as legendary womanizer Casanova and the reptilian malevolence of Barty Crouch Jr. in Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, but neither were considered poor choices to headline family entertainment.
Of course, Ellis has actually already appeared in Doctor Who in season 3 finale “Last of the Time Lords,” as a hunky, non-alien doctor interested in Martha, but there’s also precedence of this not being an issue, as Peter Capaldi and Karen Gillan both made guest appearances as separate characters prior to joining the main cast.
The question of Ellis joining Doctor Who is a moot point at the moment, as there’s the sixth season of Lucifer to first deal with, but after such an obligation is fulfilled, there’s no reason why ruling the underworld can’t lead to adventures in space and time.
